Ak-Su Valley 1999

This team hoped to make the first ascents of a subsidiary peak of P. 4810m (aka Pik Boston) and the unclimbed rock pillar of Oiseau (aka Bird Peak). However, frequent showers made them look for less committing lines, and three new routes were climbed: on the 3,700m pyramid below the Russian Tower, on a subsidiary peak between P. 4810m and Pic 1000 Years of Russia Christianity (1100m, HVS 5b) and at the end of the Wall of Dykes, 600m E2 5b. News was then received that four Japanese geologists had been kidnapped by the Taliban some 30km away, so a hasty retreat was deemed advisable.